The Champions League is now at a crucial stage, with teams fighting for the title, pride, and big money.
Eight teams will be knocked out this week, including at least four past European champions. Teams like Real Madrid or Manchester City, Bayern Munich or Celtic, AC Milan or Feyenoord, and PSV Eindhoven or Juventus will have to say goodbye to the tournament before even reaching the round of 16. This is surprising for big clubs like Madrid and Man City, who are used to playing in the later stages.
Man City’s coach, Pep Guardiola, has never failed to reach the round of 16 in his 16-year coaching career. Teams that qualify for this stage earn €11 million ($11.5 million), which is just a small part of the total €2.5 billion ($2.6 billion) prize money in the competition.
This season’s Champions League has already had 152 games—21% more than previous years—just to reach this stage. Now, 37 more games remain until the final on May 31 in Munich.
Big Match in Madrid
Real Madrid will face Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a highly anticipated game. These two teams have a history of exciting matches, including a 3-3 draw last year and a dramatic 3-1 win for Madrid in 2022. Both times, Madrid went on to win the title.
Man City has reached the round of 16 for 11 straight years, winning their first Champions League title in 2023. But now, that streak is in danger.
German Teams Play at Home
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will try to join Bayer Leverkusen in the next round. Bayern, with a 2-1 lead, plays at home against Celtic on Tuesday, while Dortmund is 3-0 ahead of Sporting Lisbon before their Wednesday game.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) also has a strong position with a 3-0 lead against Brest. Benfica, which won 1-0 at Monaco, will try to finish the job at home.
Juventus leads PSV Eindhoven 2-1 before their away game on Wednesday, while Club Brugge has the same advantage against Atalanta. Meanwhile, AC Milan must come back from a 1-0 loss when they play Feyenoord at home.
Richest Leagues Dominate
Teams from western Europe’s richest leagues continue to dominate. No team from eastern Europe made it to this stage, as Dinamo Zagreb missed out by a small margin.
All eight teams already in the round of 16 come from the top five leagues—England, Italy, Spain, Germany, and France. The Netherlands and Portugal also have a good chance of keeping their teams in the competition, but Scotland’s Celtic will likely be eliminated.
Round of 16 Draw
The draw for the next round will take place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland. The winners of this week’s matches will be unseeded and play their first leg at home against the top-ranked teams.
The top eight seeded teams are:
- Liverpool
- Barcelona
- Arsenal
- Inter Milan
- Atletico Madrid
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Lille
- Aston Villa
Liverpool and Barcelona will face the lowest-ranked playoff winners, while the winner of Real Madrid vs. Man City will play either Atletico Madrid or Leverkusen.
The round of 16 games will take place on March 4-5, with the second leg one week later. There will be no new draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals, as the matchups will be set in advance, similar to a tennis tournament.
